


Forever

by chancellorxofxtrash



Series: VRAINS Soulmate AU [4]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Canon-Typical Violence, F/M, M/M, Monster Flame (Yu-Gi-Oh), Multi, Pain Sharing, SOLtiS Flame (Yu-Gi-Oh), and there are some kisses here, at this point y'all should know that Flame gets both a soltis body and a monster body, this is more painful than originally intended
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-30
Updated: 2019-10-30
Packaged: 2021-01-13 07:23:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,181
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21240371
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chancellorxofxtrash/pseuds/chancellorxofxtrash
Summary: "Soulmates" was a very high concept for two pre-schoolers. "Forever" even more so.Or in which Takeru and Kiku aren't really sure what to make of their situation. And maybe Flame doesn't even complicate things for them. On the contrary.





	Forever

For most people, recognizing their soulmates was something dramatic in their lives. A real world-stopping event.

Not to Takeru Homura, though.

Hard to see anything world-stopping when you meet your soulmate when you are still very young, and partially still in the phase where boys think girls are gross, and girls think boys are gross.

Takeru realised Kiku was his soulmate when he was running around the school, tripped, fell - and both Kiku and him started bawling loudly. They were still around four years old, so really, it didn’t mean all that much to them, apart from the fact that they cried even more and even louder. It wasn’t rare for kids to get phantom pains from their yet-unknown soulmates and cry loudly, but it was different when they were in the same room with a bunch of other preschoolers, who were also perfectly ready and willing to join in the symphony of tears and screams at the slightest provocation.

_ Destiny  _ and being  _ soulmates  _ were big words that four year old Takeru Homura didn’t really understand. Even cartoons said soulmates were forever - but  _ forever  _ is also a very heavy word for a four year old, who thought that naptime lasted forever too.

Takeru only noticed that when other boys pulled Kiku’s braid, he felt it too, so maybe, just maybe, he ended up pushing those boys over afterwards.

~*~

Takeru’s parents obviously found it adorable, and he just pouted, when they obviously were cooing over the two of them, along with Kiku’s parents. They all found it very charming, and everyone kept telling the two of them that they were lucky to have met their soulmates this young.

You have a long time getting to know each other, they said. You two will always understand each other.

Very much a high concept for kids who weren’t even big enough to be able to spell their names yet.

Takeru’s parents probably noticed he was kind of confused about this whole fuss, so his father sat down next to him one evening, messing up his already messy hair a bit.

“You don’t have to worry about that” His father said in a gentle voice. “If you don’t want to hang out with her, you don’t have to. But if you want to, think about it this way - when you fall and hit yourself, she will be the only one to know exactly how much did it hurt you.”

Takeru hummed, slowly nodding.

“Like when those boys pulled her braid, and it hurt me too.”

“Exactly like that. Nobody else in the world will understand what did she feel then. Only you.”

Takeru frowned.

“Can I make it stop? It wasn’t nice.”

His father sighed, gently petting Takeru’s head.

“No, no you can’t. I’m sorry kiddo.”

People also told Takeru this meant that Kiku and him could pay attention and watch out for each other, but again, that was way too much for a four year old. Takeru wasn’t even able to watch out for himself most the time how could he be protecting Kiku? And same went for Kiku, of course, how could she have looked out for another clumsy four year old?

One day, their parents were called in, and the two of them were sitting on chairs, both of them sniffling, hands on their knees, heads held down.

“What happened?”

Takeru’s mom knelt down in front of them, looking at them with a worried look.

“Kiku went out to the corridor and the floor was slippery, so I tried to catch her.”

“And then Takeru slipped so I tried to catch him.”

“I really, really tried to hold her up…”

“...but he was slipping…”

“...so we both…”

“....fell and it just…”

“....hurt so much.”

The two of them were sniffling again, and Takeru’s mom sighed.

“Why were you doing that?”

“People said I need to protect Kiku, so…”

“...and they said I need to protect Takeru, so…”

“Wait. Wait. Stop” Takeru’s mom raised her hands.

Both of them went quiet. Takeru’s mom looked up at Kiku’s parents, who also nodded, and then Takeru looked back at them.

“You don’t  _ have to  _ protect each other. It is not something you  _ must  _ do.”

“But…”

“I know you are worried about you being soulmates” Kiku’s father knelt down too. “But don’t worry about it. Just play every day as normal. If you feel the other being hurt, you can always ask them, or if you are at home, you can ask to check if they are okay. But if you don’t want to, that’s also fine.”

“You are still kids” Takeru’s mom said with a gentle voice. “Leave the protecting part to us, adults, okay?”

Both of them nodded, their eyes still watery.

Neither of the people in that room could tell that protecting them was not going to be that easy.

Not even for the adults.

But things went fine for the next two years for the most part - occasional scrapes and bruises was on par with every kid’s experience in the area. Even the tears were a part of all of this.

Up until they were six years old, they really did have a normal childhood.

~*~

Takeru went missing.

Their neighborhood kept whispering about it, and Kiku felt their eyes on her.

Takeru’s parents came to visit her - asking gently where she had last seen Takeru, if he said something, if she had seen something suspicious.

If she felt anything.

Kiku shook her head.

“No… nothing out of the ordinary. Didn’t really feel any pain today, apart from that time I accidentally bumped into a chair. I don’t think he is in pain.”

Takeru’s parents looked relieved, and Kiku didn’t need to ask why.

The relief went away later that night, when a sharp pain ran through Kiku’s entire body and she screamed in her sleep.

Her parents hurried to the doctor with her, who told them there was nothing physically wrong with her.

She was frightened, shivering, but physically healthy.

Which could have meant only one thing…

“Takeru…”

Kiku whispered, and her parents exchanged a look.

They took her to Takeru’s home that night, and she told them what she felt. Takeru’s parents called the police, who came out, and Kiku had to tell them what happened  _ again. _

“Are you  _ really  _ sure it was not a bad dream?” One of the policemen stressed, and Kiku shook her head angrily.

“I know! I was sleeping but then it hurt so much I woke up.”

“For heaven’s sake, don’t you see the state that she is in?” Takeru’s dad pointed at Kiku, desperately. “Something is clearly hurt her, which means that something is hurting  _ our son, _ and…”

He couldn’t finish, because a sudden jolt of pain ran through Kiku again, and she screamed, falling off the chair.

The adults jumped after her, and she was crying, curling up on the floor from the pain, and one of the policemen looked at her, bewildered.

“...that’s from an electric shock. Someone… someone is shocking that kid.”

The entire room went silent apart from Kiku’s whimpering and her mother’s gentle, soothing sounds.

There was really not much else to say about it all.

~*~

They were both first graders - and the classroom had two empty chairs for half of the school year. Nobody knew where Takeru was, so the teachers didn’t mention him either.

The only reason everyone even knew he was alive, was because Kiku could tell them he was - she didn’t feel anything that would have inclined him dying.

Also Kiku still regularly fell over from pain, and cried.

Takeru’s parents were less and less around, and kept looking for Takeru with increasingly frantic ways. They saw Kiku suffer, both from the pain, and often crying about being too hungry, even if she ate.

So they did their best to look for him.

Until they didn’t come back.

Kiku didn’t go to their funeral, she stayed at home with her mother, because that was a bad day, and she felt the electric shocks over and over again. Kiku’s mother figured it’s better , they stay at home.

Kiku was just lying down on her bed, crying from the pain, and thinking about Takeru, and what he was going through.

~*~

It took them two more months to find Takeru, and Kiku’s mother took her to visit him a few days after he was back from the hospital.

His eyes were red from crying, and he was in his bed, wrapping himself in blankets as if they would protect him.

When the two of them saw each other, both of them started loudly crying, and Takeru tangled himself out of bed, just so he could hug Kiku and cry, and Kiku cried alongside him.

The one person who understood exactly what Takeru went through.

Your soulmate can understand you best, and all the surviving adults thought that it was unfair how these two had to learn what it meant this young.

~*~

People were lenient with Takeru - for a while. But as they started to grow up, and go to school (one year after their peers, because they effectively missed their first year), eventually people started to forget.

Easy to forget things that didn’t happen to them, after all.

Kiku did understand Takeru’s pain, and hunger - but couldn’t understand his fear of ghosts and duelling, and the crippling loneliness he felt. She was never alone, even if she suffered.

Takeru was.

In a way, Kiku figured, Takeru was still behind those closed doors, and she had no idea how to let him out.

“It isn’t your responsibility” Her mother told her, when Kiku told her this. “You can understand him, and listen to him, but you can’t save him. Especially if he is skipping school, and doesn’t allow anyone to help him. You can’t make decisions for him.”

Kiku figured she was right - so she went and made other friends.

But still regularly went to just talk with Takeru. Takeru grew harsher, and more confrontational, more withdrawn, and slowly got himself isolated.

Kiku promised her mother that as soon as Takeru does anything harsh to  _ her,  _ she won’t talk with him again.

Takeru never did.

~*~

Takeru got into a lot of fights. That was how he ended up being, as he grew older, and he found it harder and harder to go through the routine his grandparents expected. He started skipping. He went to school originally, sure, but as he started skipping more and more.

The first time Takeru got punched, he thought  _ oh no, Kiku is going to be hurt too. _

So he made the most obvious choice.

Be better at fighting, so Kiku doesn’t get hurt.

“That is not the best course of action! The best thing to do would be to avoid getting into fights!”

Takeru was lying on the deck, glancing at Kiku, who was frowning a bit, standing close to him, and he didn’t answer.

Kiku sighed.

“Please, Takeru. Take care of yourself.”

Takeru wasn’t really sure he could, so he said nothing.

People said that him and Kiku were forever, but Kiku, she did not deserve to be tied to someone like Takeru forever. A messy soulmate, about to be expelled from school, and getting into all the fights ever. An angry soulmate, who didn’t find his own way around.

Forever was a long time, being tied to someone like that, but Takeru had no idea he could have became more than that.

~*~

And then of course, he met Flame. And with Flame, came the answers he never got until then - and looking into Flame’s glowing eyes, they oddly seemed less and less scary as time went on.

“I am going to Den City.”

Kiku was obviously quite baffled by this - after all, Takeru really didn’t know much about technology, so he expected her to laugh at him.

But instead…

“...just take care of yourself, Takeru.”

And Takeru smiled a bit.

“I’ll try.”

And Kiku smiled back.

~*~

He didn’t actually notice that Flame and him shared pain. It had to be Yusaku who mentioned it, almost offhandedly, when the topics of soulmates came up. Kusanagi was very evasive about the topic of his own soulmate, and Yusaku just took a deep breath, and told Takeru that his soulmate knows that he is Yusaku’s soulmate. And that he is Playmaker’s. But not that they are the same person.

“Huh. That’s odd.”

“Which is odd because technically he isn’t wrong about having two soulmates” Ai said cheerfully. “Seeing as I am also here.”

“What do you mean?” Takeru asked, confused.

“Well, Yusaku and I do share pain, so we are as good as soulma--”

“We are not.”

“And either way, I feel a more muted version of Yusaku’s soulmate’s pain, but uhhh it still counts.”

Takeru looked baffled, which caused Ai to tilt his head, and laugh out loud.

“Flame! You didn’t tell him this was the deal?”

“We didn’t exactly gut hurt individually” Flame narrowed his eyes, glaring at Ai. “When we got hurt after we met, it was usually when we were duelling, and then we got hurt together, so how could have we--- ow!”

“Ow!”

Ai got out of his disk in his monstrous form towards Flame, and pulled on the little antennae on top of his head.

Which caused Flame to yelp, and Takeru also having sharp pain run over his scalp.

“See? Connected.”

“You have no room to talk” Yusaku mentioned, looking at Ai from the corner of his eye. “You did not say anything about us being connected for the longest time either.”

“That was different! I didn’t know if I could trust you! Flame is supposedly trusting Takeru completely!”

Yusaku ignored Ai’s flailing, while Takeru looked down at Flame, who was still rubbing his head.

Connected, huh.

He reached down, to gently rub Flame’s head, and he just pushed his head into Takeru’s hand, clearly enjoying the contact.

Okay.

That probably should have been weirder than it was - but it just made Takeru smile.

~*~

As much as Flame tried to appear level-headed and grounded, but after the confrontation with Lightning and Windy, Takeru noticed he was unusually quiet.

“Hey. You okay, Flame?”

Flame glanced up at Takeru and nodded.

“Of course I am. Why are you worried?”

“I mean… we are going to have to fight your friends.”

“I have to do what is right, Takeru. And I have other friends on my side. And I have you.”

“Huh? Am I not included with your other friends?”

Flame moved quickly, pushing himself out of the duel disk - just so he could wrap his long appendages around Takeru.

“You are my partner, Takeru Homura” Flame’s voice was so gentle when he said the word  _ partner,  _ that Takeru felt like his face was heating up.

“I…”

“As long as I have you by my side, my soul will forever be indomitable.”

“...good thing I will never leave you, huh.”

Now that Flame was in his monstrous form, he  _ could  _ grin - so he did, and Takeru found himself smiling too.

~*~

Something was wrong.

Something was horribly wrong.

His own chest was feeling like it was bursting apart, and there was pain, and then… and then…

Takeru screamed when Flame disappeared, and he felt empty.

It felt like there was a hole inside his soul, like Windy violently ripped a part away from him.

And then…

“I don’t think this duel can continue.”

Bohman’s voice was oddly gentle, and it just made Takeru’s anger fire up even more.

He had to win, he had to win, for Flame, he had to, he had to…

He didn’t.

_ I’m sorry, Flame. _

~*~

Kiku felt empty.

She was sitting alone in her room, hugging herself, shivering from the pain, looking down, bewildered.

She didn’t need to think too hard to figure out Soulburner was Takeru. It was enough to watch some of his duels that got broadcasted.

She knew he managed to meet with Playmaker, and team up with him, for whatever reason, and where Playmaker went, so did he, and Playmaker was often involved with trouble in Link VRAINS.

So… something had to go wrong.

She was afraid of checking the news outlets from Link VRAINS.

A few hours after, the emptiness eased a little. Something seemed to have been… better, but not perfect, so eventually she called Takeru, and he answered, his voice very tired.

“Yeah… yeah, I lost. Not very cool, right?” Takeru asked, laughing a little, although there was no joy in his voice.

“Takeru, are you al…”

“I might go home soon” Takeru interrupted her. “I don’t… really know. I gotta figure some things out first, I guess.”

Then Takeru said goodbye and hung up, and Kiku just looked at her phone, and sighed.

“Really, I wish you would learn how to talk about your issues.”

~*~

Takeru was really about to go back home.

It wasn’t that he didn’t like Yusaku, Ai, or Aoi Zaizen. They were important people, but moving back home didn’t mean he had to drop all contact with them.

And the duel disk on his arm was unbearably empty and quiet.

Until Yusaku said those words.

“Will you help us finding a way to bring them back?”

Takeru smiled - the first honest smile he had on his face since Flame disappeared.

“Do you need to ask that question?”

Yusaku also smiled.

(It’s debatable how much help he actually was, seeing as he couldn’t understand all this technobabble at all, but he was always there as enthusiastic moral support, and nobody complained.)

~*~

And then Flame was back, and when Takeru stayed alone with him, he just could not look away from him, as he sat down to the bed, putting the duel disk next to him.

“Get out.”

“Huh?” Flame looked at him, tilting his head.

“Out. Of the duel disk. Into your bigger form.”

Flame was obviously confused, but complied, emerging in his monster form - and Takeru promptly tackled him.

The intensity which he grabbed onto Flame made both of them fall back to the bed, and Takeru was briefly aware that the duel disk fell off the bed, and Flame yelped, but Takeru couldn’t care less. He was holding onto Flame like he was holding onto dear life, pressing kisses all over his head.

“You are back. You are actually back...” He whispered, not opening his eyes, between kisses, and he felt Flame’s long appendages wrap around him, holding him tight.

“Yes, I am.”

“I will never let you go again. Never. I will be with you forever.”

“Good thing I don’t want to leave, then, Takeru Homura.”

~*~

Kiku was walking through the streets alone, when he suddenly heard an unfamiliar voice.

“Excuse me… Kiku Kamishirakawa, right?”

She stopped, and looked back.

“Yeah… Yeah I am.”

The guy who asked her was someone she never before had seen in her life. And it was sure, as she surely would have remembered an odd guy like that.

He was on the taller side, wearing black leather pants and also a jacket - both of them also including red flame-like patterns. His shirt and the long scarf in his neck was red, and so were his fingerless gloves.

His hair was slightly long, extremely messy and spiky, and also red and black - and his eyes were almost like they were  _ glowing. _

The guy grinned (and his teeth looked like they were  _ pointy _ ), as he stepped forward.

“It is a pleasure to finally meet you, Kiku Kamishirakawa. My name is Flame. You write it with the kanji meaning  _ indomitable soul.  _ But you pronounce it as Flame.”

He was standing in front of Kiku now, and he grabbed her hand, pressing a kiss to the back of her hand, his glowing eyes still focused on her, and she was trying to find an excuse to leave.

“Flame! Don’t creep on her!”

Now  _ that  _ voice, she knew.

She got this opening to yank her hand back, and smile at Takeru gratefully, and he just glared at Flame, who looked slightly confused.

“Creep…? I just said hi.”

“And she doesn’t know you yet. So you might seem creepy.”

“Is he your friend, Takeru?”

Takeru seemed a bit embarrassed, and Flame grinned, looking back at Kiku, after she asked the question,

“Takeru and I are partners.”

“Partners…?”

“You do know that I.. in Link VRAINS. You know... Soulburner has an AI.”

Kiku nodded - she did notice the unique AI being on Soulburner’s arm.

Flame grinned, and pulled the scarf off from his neck, uncovering the faint light on his neck.

SOLtiS.

“I am that AI. One of the six Ignis - I am the Fire Ignis, Flame. Meaning indo---”

“You told her that already!” Takeru hushed him, before looking back at Kiku. “Don’t… worry. We will explain everything. This is something you need to know too.”

~*~

Kiku didn’t really know what to think about Flame. Thinking about what created Flame filled her with uncomfortable memories, but…

But Takeru obviously seemed extremely attached to this weird AI with a penchant for looking like a biker.

“All my life I thought that… that whole thing had no point. That maybe we were just tortured as some sick joke, or that we will never find out what happened.”

Takeru admitted, standing next to Kiku, watching Flame, who was intent on checking the televisions on display a bit further away.

“Do you feel better? Now that you know?”

“Yeah, I do” Takeru admitted. “What about you?”

“...it’s good to know why did it happen, but I don’t know. I still need to think about it.”

“I get that” Takeru replied. “But Flame… It’s like there is finally something… good came out of that hell. And losing him, and thinking that I will never get him back… I never want to go through that, Kiku. Whatever I will do, no matter where my future will lead, it will be by Flame’s side.”

Kiku looked at Takeru’s determined face and chuckled a bit, which made Takeru look at her confused.

“I had never seen you this determined about anything before. It’s a good thing, Takeru.”

“Is it?” Takeru asked with a shy smile, scratching the back of his head nervously.

“It is. And… I also felt him go away, you know. Shortly after that I felt you fade away too, but… I think I get it, Takeru. Not even I felt whole while he was gone.”

The two of them just watched Flame silently before he spun around and hurried back to the two of them.

“I have an amazing idea on where to go next!”

“Next…?” Takeru tilted his head, and Flame nodded enthusiastically.

“A bit of a bonding between the three of us, you know.”

“Sounds fun” Kiku smiled. “Let’s go.”

~*~

“I hate you. I hate you both. I take back everything I ever said to either of you. I am going back to Den City, and going to live in Kusanagi’s hot dog truck. All alone.”

“That’s one place where you definitely never would be alone.”

“I don’t care. I will take over manning the truck, and pretend I never knew any of you.”

Takeru really didn’t know why did he let Flame and Kiku talk him into going to a haunted house.

Oh wait.

He did know.

Especially as he walked in the middle, both of them holding on to his arms.

“That was the worst. I am going to have nightmares.”

The two of them were snickering.

“Why did I even introduce you two to each other. I did not sign up for this. You two are horrible.”

“C’mon, Takeru” Kiku said with a cheerful smile, rubbing his back. “You know those weren’t real ghosts right? They were just actors.”

“Most likely” Flame nodded. “I mean I suppose you can never know. If I were a ghost, I would probably hide in a haunted house attraction. That way they can never tell I am a real ghost.”

“Stop iiiit!”

Takeru whined, wincing, while the other two just laughed.

Truly, they were the worst.

~*~

And yet, after Kiku walked them home, and Flame kissed her hand again, and he was pretty sure Kiku was blushing - and then he leaned forward to press a kiss to her face (then she was  _ definitely  _ blushing), it really didn’t feel all that bad.

And when they were alone in Takeru’s room and Flame kissed him, it  _ definitely  _ did not feel that bad. On the contrary.

Kissing Flame felt like something he should have done forever ago, and he may have been a bit clingy about it, as Flame lost his balance and fell backwards, his back hitting the wall - and Takeru felt the dull pain on his own back, but he didn’t break the kiss.

To be fair, Flame didn’t complain either, just pulled him even closer.

Eventually, he was gonna have to let go.

Not yet, though.

Forever was a long time, even for a teenager.

People said him and Kiku were forever. He also promised Flame he would be with him forever.

_ Forever  _ was not really a scary concept anymore.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! There is one more planned installment for this series. Probably. I am gonna do my best about that one too.


End file.
